Shelf partition

ABSTRACT

A shelf partition adapted for use with a generally horizontal shelf having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes therein. The partition is of a wire mesh construction having a plurality of longitudinal and transversely related wire rods interconnected to each other. A slider member slidably engages at least one of the longitudinal wire rods for relative movement therealong. Foot means are provided on the slider member for selectively engaging one of the laterally spaced holes in the shelf to fixedly locate the partition relative to the shelf. The slider member, due to its sliding relation relative to the partition, may be adjusted longitudinally of the partition to permit an alignment of the foot means thereon with at least one of the laterally spaced holes in the shelf.

United States Patent Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, .l r. AttorneyWoodhams, Blanchard and Flynn ABSTRACT: A shelf partition adapted for use with a generally horizontal shelf having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes therein. The partition is of a wire mesh construction having a plurality of longitudinal and transversely related wire rods interconnected to each other. A slider member slidably engages at least one of the longitudinal wire rods for relative movement therealong. Foot means are provided on the slider member for selectively engaging one of the laterally spaced holes in the shelf to fixedly locate the partition relative to the shelf. The slider member, due to its sliding relation relative to the partition, may be adjusted longitudinally of the partition to permit an alignment of the foot means thereon with at least one of the laterally spaced holes in the shelf.

PAIENTED SEP28 197i sum 2 or z INVENTOR WAL me H. smear SHELF PARTITION FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a shelf partition, and more particularly relates to a shelf partition of a wire mesh construction having adjustable means thereon for selectively engaging any of the openings provided in a shelf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Shelf dividers of wire mesh constructionhave been know for many years. Nevertheless, there is a continuing need for partitions of wire mesh construction adaptable to be used with a shelf having a plurality of rows laterally spaced holes therein. Presently known partitions are not equipped with satisfactory devices which can be easily aligned with the openings in the shelf. As a result, the partition is complicated to erect and involves time-consuming assembly tasks which are necessary in order to maintain the partition in an upright position on the shelf.

Some of the known partitions of wire mesh construction utilize various devices which extend laterally outwardly from the partition to provide sufficient stabilization for the partition when it is in an upright position on the shelf. As a result, the stabilization devices interfere with the available space on the shelf and, therefore, limit the amount of merchandise which can be placed on the shelf.

Therefore, an easily manufacturable shelf partition which may be easily and quickly mounted on a shelf having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes therein is highly desirable.

Accordingly the objects of this invention include:

I. To provide a shelf partition of wire mesh construction adapted to be easily mounted on a shelf having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes therein.

2. To provide a shelf partition, as aforesaid, having adjustable means thereon movable longitudinally of the partition to permit a selective engagement with the openings provided in the shelf to fixedly locate the partition relative to the shelf.

3. To provide a shelf partition, as aforesaid, wherein the adjustable means provided on the partition does not extend appreciably laterally beyond the thickness of the partition so that maximum space is provided on the shelf for merchandise and the like.

4. To provide a shelf partition which is easily manufacturable and durable and cannot be easily deformed to hamper the installation of the partition to the shelf.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with the shelf partitions of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shelf partition embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the shelf partition; F IG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an end view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary showing of a modified slider member on a shelf partition;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI--Vl of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary showing of a modified lock mechanism; and

FIG. 8 is an end view of the lock mechanism shown in FIG.

Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words up, "down," right and left" will designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words front" and rear" will refer to the front and rear edges of the shelf, the front edge of the shelf being the right edge illustrated in FIG. 1. The words in and out will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include derivatives and words of similar import.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a shelf partition of wire mesh construction adapted for use with a generally horizontal sheet metal shelf having a plurality of rows laterally spaced holes therein. A slider member is secured to the shelf partition and is adapted for longitudinal sliding movement relative thereto. Foot means are provided on the slider member which are receivable in selective ones of the laterally spaced openings in the shelf to thereby fixedly locate the partition relative to the shelf.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 7 A shelf partition 10 (FIG. 1) is adapted to be mounted on a shelf 11 having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes 12 therein. In this particular embodiment, the shelf 11 is of sheet metal construction and is provided with hook member 13 for engaging conventional supporting post members (not illustrated) to support the shelf 11 in a generally horizontal position.

The shelf partition 10 is of a wire mesh construction and comprises a generally inverted U-shaped frame 14 having horizontally spaced parallel leg members 16 and 17 interconnected at their upper ends by a horizontal, longitudinally extending wire rod 18. The shelf partition 10 further comprises a plurality of vertically spaced longitudinally extending horizontal wire rods 19 which extend parallel to the wire rod 18 and are fixedly secured, as by welding, to the leg members 16 and 17 of the frame 14.

In this particular embodiment, the leg 17 of the frame 14 extends downwardly below the lowermost horizontal wire rod 19 to define a partition locating pin 21 (FIG. 2).

If desired, additional wire rods may be provided between and extending generally parallel to the leg member 16 and 17 of the frame 14. In this particular embodiment, the wire rod 22 is provided midway between and parallel to the legs 16 and 17 and is fixedly secured, as by welding, to the horizontal wire rods 19 and the wire rod 18 of the frame 14.

The frontwardmost end of one of the horizontal wire rods 19, here wire rod 23 extends frontwardly beyond the leg 17 and is bent over to define a hook 24. The frontwardmost end of adjacent wire rod 19, here wire rod 26 is not secured to the leg 17 and is, therefore, flexible between the solid and broken line positions illustrated in FIG. 2. The forwardmost end of the wire rod 26 is bent upwardly as at 27 and the upwardly extending front end 28 of the wire rod 26 is bent over in a lateral direction to define a loop or keeper member 29 which lies in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the shelf partition 10 (FIGS. 2 and 4). When the wire rod 26 has been flexed to the broken line position illustrated in FIG. 2, a gap 31 is created between the bend 27 and the hooked end portion 24 and the wire rod 23.

The shelf partition 10 further comprises a generally inverted U-shaped wire rod slider member 36 having a pair of parallel leg members 37 and 38. In this particular embodiment, each of the leg members 37 and 38 comprise upper and lower portions 39 and 41, respectively, (FIG. 3 which are coplanar with the legs 16 and 17 of the frame 14. The upper portions 39 of the leg members 37 and 38 are interconnected by the rod member 42.

A pair of rod portions 43 is provided on the opposite sides of the wire rods 19 from the upper and lower portions 39 and 41 and are connected at their upper and lower ends to the upper and lower portions 39 and 41 by angle portions 44 and 46, respectively, which extend through the vertical spacing between the horizontal rods 19. As a result, the upper and lower portions 39 and 41 on one side of the wire rods 19 and the rod portions 43 on the opposite side of the others of the wire rods 19 result in a securement of the slider member 36 to the shelf partition 10 while at the same time permitting a sliding movement thereof longitudinally of the partition 10 as schematically illustrated in broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The lower end of each of the legs 37 and 38 may be bent to define a foot but, however, in' this particular embodiment,

only the leg 37 (FIG. 3) is bent as at 47 at a right angle to the plane of thepartition 10 to define a foot 48. The spacing between the uppermost surface 49 of the foot 48 and the lowermost surface 51 of the bottommost wire rod 19 define a clearance 52 through which extends the sheet metal shelf 1 1.

In this particular embodiment, a front wall 52 may be provided on shelf 11, which wall is also of a wire mesh construction having a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal wire rods 53 and a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical wire rods 54 secured to the wire rods 53 as by welding.

OPERATION Although the installation of the shelf partition described above will be understood from the foregoing description by skilled persons, a summary of each description is now given for convenience.

The shelf partition may be mounted on a shelf 11 having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes 12 therein by first placing the foot 48 into one of the holes 12 adjacent the rear edge of the shelf 11. This may be accomplished by laying the partition 10 in a position closely parallel to the shelf 11 to permit the foot 48 to project into the selected hole 12 after which time the partition 10 may be moved to the upright position illustrated in FIG. I. When the partition 10 is in the upright position, the foot 48 will be located below the surface of the shelf 11 as illustrated in FIG. 3 to prevent the partition from moving-upwardly away therefrom. The partition locating pin 21 adjacent the forward end of the partition 10 may then be placed in one of the holes 12 adjacent the front edge of the shelf 11. If the partition locating pin 21 does not properly align with one of the openings 12, the partition may be slid a small distance relative to the slider member 36 until the partition locating pin 21 becomes aligned with one of the holes 12.

After the foot 48 and the partition locating pin 21 have been received by a pair of holes 12 in the sheet metal shelf 11, the partition 10 will then fixedly located relative to the shelf 11 and will not be capable of a lateral displacement relative thereto.

The front wall 52 can be fixedly secured to the front end of the partition 10 by placing the hooked end portion 24 of the wire rod 23 over the horizontal wire rod 53 on the front wall 52. This may be accomplished by lifting the front end of the partition 10 to place the hook over the centrally located wire rod 53. This will cause a flexing of the wire rod 26 from the solid line position to the broken line position (FIG. 2) to open the gap 31 to permit the wire rod 53 to move therethrough. After the wire rod 53 has been moved to the position illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the rod 26 will automatically flex back to the solid line position to lock the wire rod 53 in the location illustrated. Thus, the provision of the locking mechanism adjacent the front end of the partition 10 may eliminate the need for auxiliary supporting devices for the front wall 52.

Since the slider member 36 is located between the longitudinal ends of the shelf partition locating members, namely the pin 21 and the foot 48 may be adjusted to compensate for irregularities in the spacing between the holes in the sheet metal shelf 11 without interfering with the space adjacent the end of the partition. Further, the slider member 36, namely the member which permits an adjustment of the horizontal spacing between the foot 48 and the pin 21, does not project appreciably laterally beyond the plane of the shelf partition 10 so that the display space provided on the shelf 11 is maximized and, further, does not hinder the removal of the merchandise from the partitioned areas on the shelf.

MODIFIED CONSTRUCTION OF FIGS. AND 6 The parts of the modified partition A will be referred to by the same reference numeral designating corresponding parts of the partition 10 but with the suffix .A" added thereto.

A modified slider member 36 A comprises an inverted U shaped wire rod having a pair of parallel leg portions 56 and 57 interconnected at their upper ends by a rod portion 58. The

legs 56 and 57 are generally the same as the legs 37 and 38 of the slider member 36 illustrated in F IGS,. 2 and 3 and, therefore, further detailing thereof is believed unnecessary. However, the lower end of the leg 56 terminates, as at 59, below the plane of the shelf 11. The lower end of the leg 57 is bent, as at 61 at a right angle to define a foot member 62. In this particular embodiment, the foot member 62 is located above the plane of the shelf 11. A pad 63 is fixedly secured to the lower surface of the foot 62 and by welding. A prong 64 is punched out of the pad 63 and extends downwardly therefrom and is adapted to be received in one of the openings provided in the shelf II as is the extension 59 on the leg 56. In this particular embodiment, the holes in the shelf 11 are preferably elongated in one direction to permit the insertion of the prong 64. If the holes are elongated in a direction from front to rear, the slider member 36 A may be slid longitudinally of the partition 10 A to move the end of the prong beneath the shelf 11. On the other hand, if the holes are elongated in a lateral direction, the partition must first be oriented approximately parallel to the lateral direction to permit the prong 64 to be inserted into the selected hole. The partition 10 A can then be moved to a position generally perpendicular to the lateral direction to lock the prong 64 into the hole.

The pad 63 is a stabilizer for the shelf partition I0 A to maintain the partition 10 A in an upright position for use and to prevent an inadvertent tilting thereof. The slider member 36 A may be adjusted longitudinally of the partition 10 A in the same manner as was described hereinabove with respect to the slider member 36.

If, for example the spacing between the holes provided in the shelf 11 do not agree with the spacing between the extension 59 and the prong 64, the leg members 56 and 57 are slightly flexible to permit a relative horizontal adjustment of the spacing between the holes in the shelf 1 l.

MODIFIED CONSTRUCTION OF FIGURES 7 AND 8 The parts of the modified partition 10 B will be referred to by the same reference numeral designating corresponding parts of the partition 10 but with the suffix 8" added thereto.

A modified locking mechanism 66 may be provided at the front end of the partition 10 B. The modified locking mechanism 66 comprises a wire rod 23 B which extend frontwardly beyond the leg 17 B and is bent over to define the hook 24 B. A keeper 67 having an opening 68 therethrough receiving the rod 23 B and, therefore, pivotally mounted to the rod 23 B is movable between the solid and broken line positions. The keeper 67 has a nose portion 69 which extends frontwardly therefrom and is slightly spaced from or just engages the lower portion of the hooked end 24 B of the wire rod 23 B. Thus, when the key is in the solid line position, the wire rod 53 B of the front wall to the front wall 52 shown in FIG. I, will be locked to the front end of the partition 10 B. On the other hand, when the keeper 67 is pivoted to the broken line position, the nose portion 69 is moved so that the wire rod 53 B may be moved relative to the hooked end portion 24 B out through a gap 31 B created thereby.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.

' means is located between the longitudinal ends of said shelf partition and is slidable longitudinally of said shelf partition over at least a portion of the area between said longitudinal ends.

3. A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said foot means on said slider means comprises a prong adapted to extend through a selected one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf to fixedly locate one longitudinal end of said partition relative to said shelf. i

4 A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said foot means comprises a pad fixedly secured to said slider means, said pad having a prong fixedly secured thereto and extending downwardly therefrom and adapted to be received by a selected one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf.

5. A shelf partition according to claim 1, including means adjacent one end of said partition receivable in at least one other one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf to fixedly locate said end of said partition relative to said shelf.

6. A shelf partition according to claim 1, including locking means adjacent one longitudinal end of said shelf partition, said locking means being adapted to engage a front wall of the shelf.

7. A shelf partition according to claim 6, wherein said locking means comprises a hook member extending beyond one longitudinal end of said partition and a keeper member movable toward and away from said hook member to permit said hook member to engage front wall when said keeper is in a first position and to lock said hook member to said front wall when said keeper is in asecond position. 

1. A partition member of wire mesh construction having a plurality of longitudinal wire rods interconnected by a plurality of wire rods tranversely related thereto, adapted for use with a shelf having a plurality of rows of laterally spaced holes therein, comprising: slider means engaging at least one of said longitudinal wires and adapted for longitudinal sliding movement relative thereto; foot means on the said slider means receivable in at least one of said laterally spaced holes to thereby fixedly locate said partition relative to said sheet metal shelf; and whereby said slider means may be adjusted longitudinally of said partition to permit an alignment of said foot means with selective ones of said holes in said shelf.
 2. A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said slider means is located between the longitudinal ends of said shelf partition and is slidable longitudinally of said shelf partition over at least a portion of the area between said longitudinal ends.
 2. A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said slider means is located between the longitudinal ends of said shelf partition and is slidable longitudinally of said shelf partition over at least a portion of the area between said longitudinal ends.
 3. A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said foot means on said slider means comprises a prong adapted to extend through a selected one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf to fixedly locate one longitudinal end of said partition relative to said shelf.
 4. A shelf partition according to claim 1, wherein said foot means comprises a pad fixedly secured to said slider means, said pad having a prong fixedly secured thereto and extending downwardly therefrom and adapted to be received by a selected one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf.
 5. A shelf partition according to claim 1, including means adjacent one end of said partition receivable in at least one other one of said plurality of laterally spaced holes in said shelf to fixedly locate said end of said partition relative to said shelf.
 6. A shelf partition according to claim 1, including locking means adjacent one longitudinal end of said shelf partition, said locking means being adapted to engage a front wall of the shelf.
 7. A shelf partition according to claim 6, wherein said locking means comprises a hook member extending beyond one longitudinal end of said partition and a keeper member movable toward and away from said hook member to permit said hook member to engage said front wall when said keeper is in a first position and to lock said hook member to said front wall when said keeper is in a second position. 